Animals | Science News for Students

Animals

grazing wildebeests

Moonlight affects animals in many different ways. Wildebeests (a herd shown) rely on moonlight to avoid nighttime attacks by hungry lions.

Karann Kalsey/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Animals
 
Nov 7, 2019
The moon has power over animals
barn owls

Barn owls can be quite white, quite red — or somewhere in between.

Isabelle Henri

Animals
 
Nov 5, 2019
Standing out helps barn owls on the hunt
a photo of Sweetie, a black dog outside

This is Sweetie when she was a young dog. Is she part greyhound? Part Labrador? Her owner gave her a DNA test to find out. (A doggie friend digs in the background.)

L. Gunter; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Genetics
 
Oct 24, 2019
What we can — and can’t — learn from our pets’ DNA
a photo of a chihuahua and a St. Bernard against a white background

A chihuahua and a St. Bernard don’t look like they have much in common. But they’re both the same sub-species. What’s the difference? A few genes.

cynoclub/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Genetics
 
Oct 24, 2019
DNA testing looks into dog breeds and cat history
a photo of a robot "hand" reaching for a jellyfish

The fingers of this robotic hand reach out to catch a delicate jellyfish.

Anand Varma

Robotics
 
Oct 2, 2019
This robot catches jellyfish with a gentle ‘hug’
a side view of three different dog breeds

Brain scans from 33 dog breeds revealed a broad variation in regions involved in scent hunting, guarding and companionship.

debbiehelbing/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Animals
 
Sep 30, 2019
Breeding has given different dogs distinct brain shapes
a photo of Karen Chin studying fossilized feces in in the field

Karen Chin studies fossilized feces to learn what dinosaurs ate and how they interacted with their environment.

K. Chin

Body functions
 
Sep 26, 2019
Cool Jobs: Poop investigators
a composite image of a midge jumping

Never mind the absence of legs. A young gall midge, no bigger than a rice grain, can go airborne thanks to some clever latching.

G.M. Farley et al/Journal of Experimental Biology 2019

Animals
 
Sep 18, 2019
High-speed camera reveals the secrets of a legless larva’s leap
maze corals with lesions from a new coral disease

Maze corals on Flat Cay reef near St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lesions expose the corals’ stark white skeleton. A deadly new disease is to blame — and it's spreading through the Caribbean.

M. Brandt

Animals
 
Aug 29, 2019
Mystery disease is killing Caribbean corals
a photo of one cat licking another cat

Most cat allergies are triggered by a protein called Fel d1. It’s carried in cats’ saliva. New research aims to disable the protein at its source.

SunRay BRI Cattery RU/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Animals
 
Aug 14, 2019
Giving cats a special food may one day help people with cat allergies